‘Troop’ usage

I agree with Eva Edmands, who states she dislikes the use of the word "troops" when referring to individual soldiers. The words heading an article states, "16 troops confirmed dead ..." (July 1), says something vastly different to me than if it had said "16 troopers." Maybe the writers are using newer dictionaries, but my Webster's Dictionary includes the following definitions of a "troop": a collection of people, a quantity, a lot, a troupe (or company) of soldiers collectively, a division, a squadron, a group. It shows the definition of a "trooper" as one cavalry man.

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Are we seriously complaining about the use of the word troops? There are more important things to worry about other than word usage. We know what the newspaper means and when anybody else uses the word troops.